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5 month old acid reflux?

My son has always spit up. It seems as though it is getting worse. He has always been a fussy baby, that seems to be getting worse also. He hates laying on his back and screams all throughout the night like he is in pain. He also gets the hiccups frequently and arches his back after emptying one breast until he is burped and usually spits up. He also arches his back a lot in general especially when he is fussing. He rarely has a burp that doesn't contain breast milk. I am really convinced he has acid reflux. I should also add that since staring solids (he maybe gets 3 tbsp of baby food in the evening) he has stopped pooping everyday. He went from pooping 3-4 times a day to pooping every other day and it is the consistency of peanut butter. He struggles to get it out and farts a lot. His ped suggested karo syrup with water but he will not take water from a bottle or a cup and that remedy sounds a little old school to me. Can anyone give me any advice? His ped wants me to eliminate all dairy from my diet before taking him in. I am desperate to find a solution, I have been so frustrated and irritated with him for the last 5 months I feel like a horrible mother. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Re: 5 month old acid reflux?

Hi, I have experience with a my oldest being a very very spitty baby, who also would be very uncomfortable on his back, had wet, painful burps, super fussy, poor sleep, etc. It was so frustrating!

His pediatrician thought it was GER (reflux) and we tried two different medications. The first he spit out, but the second he took and I do think there was SOME improvement. Over time, the symptoms resolved and we stopped the meds.

Looking back years later and with much more knowledge about breastfeeding and what is normal and what is not, etc., I no longer think our issue was, in fact, GER. or at least that was only part of it. I think it was more an issue of overproduction and forceful letdown and some GER. What I have discovered is GER is very much over diagnosed and many other issues like fast letdown, tongue tie, and even simply normal amounts of spit up, is blamed on GER. However, this does not mean painful GER does not exist. It certainly does, and in that case, medication will help. Frequent nursing and holding baby upright (such as, snuggled against you, with baby's head well above his tummy) for as long as possible after nursing also helps. This also helps with forceful letdown.

Dr. Bill Sears has what I consider a v. good article on GER. But I have not been able to open that website in ages. It’s www.askdrsears.com .

As far as the constipation goes, I would suggest simply stop solids for another month or so, as they seem to be the culprit. Baby may simply not be ready for solids yet, sometimes with solids the eyes say ‘yes yes’ and the digestive tract says ‘not yet’. Typically there is no general need to start solids at this point. It is perfectly normal for a breastfed baby to stop pooping as often as every day, in fact many will go several days. But if baby is straining to go, that indicates constipation.

How do you feel about eliminating dairy? I take it you do not think the issue is dairy? Eliminating dairy is very easy for a doctor to tell a mother to do and not so easy for many mothers to actually accomplish! I am going to link the Academy of Breastfeeding medicine protocol on food allergy. http://www.bfmed.org/Media/Files/Pro...ish_120211.pdf

Re: 5 month old acid reflux?

Thanks for the reply! I have decided to stop solids until he is 6 months. He even spits up after eating solids so overall it's not doing anything but plugging him up. I do feel bad because he loves eating his food, he gets so excited when he sees it, but I need to get his digestion back on track. I'm worried it will happen again when I start them?

As far as the dairy goes, I don't know if that's the culprit or not. However, I love cheese! I'm struggling with cutting it out but for my little man I will do anything. The main reasons I think it is reflux are
1) he screams in pain when put on his back, even when we get on the floor to play.
2) he sounds congested all the time
3) he spits up after ever feed, even up to 2 hours after last feeding
5) he gags himself with his fingers, almost as if he is grabbing at his throat
6) his spit up smells like vomit
7) he is always always fussy and when he burps it is always accompanied with spit up.
I don't want to give him medication, I am more of a homeopathic person, but I feel horrible for not recognizing this sooner. His lack of sleep and extreme fussiness is taking a toll on me, his brother and my relationship with my husband. I feel like a horrible mother for the many many times I've become frustrated and agitated with him. I just hope his doctor doesn't dismiss me as being paranoid when I take him in

Re: 5 month old acid reflux?

Being excited about solid food isn't the same as being ready to eat solid food. Just like your baby is probably really excited when he sees your keys, but not yet ready to drive your car. Give your baby a month to let his digestive system mature, and his reaction to solids may be entirely different.

Have you been spoon-feeding, or letting your baby self-feed? And what sorts of solids have you been offering?

Re: 5 month old acid reflux?

i understand not wanting to medicate. There are many things to try for GER that do not involve medication. I cannot remener what all we tried before meds, but i do know that frequent nursing and keeping baby upright as much as possible helped the most. if ultimately you decide to try meds, remember it is typical that they are only needed temporarily-a few months.

Try not to feel bad. Mothering an infant is really hard even when everything is coming up roses. Everyone expects it to be easier with number 2 (and 3, etc) but this is often not the case. I had lots of struggles with mood issues with my second son, who was actually an easier baby than number one in many ways. It took me a long time to recognize I had many symptoms of post partum depression/anxiety.

Re: 5 month old acid reflux?

Okay, so when you reintroduce solids, it might be a good idea to avoid rice, bananas, and apples, as all three are known to make some babies constipated. In fact, when you have a kid with diarrhea, you feed him the BRAT diet: Bananas, Rice, Apple, and Toast.

You might also want to try letting your baby self-feed. It's less time-consuming for you because you don't have to sit there shoveling purée into your baby's mouth. It allows your baby to practice new motor skills- picking food up with his hands, transferring the food to his mouth, dropping the food (yes, it can end up being pretty messy!). And it's less likely to result in the baby taking in a huge amount of solids, because getting the food into his mouth is a lot more work. The baby isn't simply opening and swallowing. There's nothing wrong with spoon-feeding- it works for a lot of moms and babies! But when you have a kid who maybe should go a little slower with solids, self-feeding is one way to make that happen.